Hey guys! I've been struggling getting the story moving along, and I've been slowing down a bit. I don't want to, but it's getting harder and harder for me to get my thoughts onto the paper. I'll still be posting some prewrit stuff, but after I only have like 2 or 3 chapters like that though. Still moving along though. So here's the next chapter!

Enjoy!


Chapter 12

"URRRGGHHHH" Ukiah threw up over an edge of a cliff. The stuff he used to mix his paste was messing with his senses, and was making him really sick to his stomach. Making sure he didn't have any chunks hanging from him or around his mouth, Ukiah slowly stood straight up. After standing defiantly with the war paint on in front of Murky and the rest of the Vikings, Ukiah began to realize the stuff he used to mix with the charcoal wasn't a good idea. Turning to Stoick with a face that looked like he was going to be sick, Ukiah was dismissed; with the excuse that Stoick was done with him and needed to consult the men with what they should do.

Feeling a small bump on his back, Ukiah turned around to see Kobaalt with a concerned look on his face.

"I'm ok buddy, just a little…grossed out." Ukiah wryly said.

Relief flooded Kobaalt's face at this news, happy that whatever was wrong with Ukiah wasn't serious.

Ukiah smiled as he looked at Kobaalt. "He's always concerned for me, making sure that I'm ok. I guess what happened in Thariin must have him overly worried about me." He thought.

To be honest, what happened in Thariin was almost too much for Ukiah to think about. It was a month ago when he and Kobaalt were fighting for their lives, about to lose to. If it hadn't been for Stoick, Hiccup, Astrid, and all the Berk Vikings, they would have lost.

Thariin used to be a place that Ukiah ignored until he had to go trade. Even then, he went in and out as fast as he could. "Guess I couldn't really face the truth there." He muttered to himself, rubbing Kobaalt's head.

Then he switched his thoughts to something that was still puzzling him, the dream he had where he was on a different looking island. The abandoned village with the armored Viking, with the peaceful feeling he had the entire time he was there; it was so confusing to him. Then the saying that came as if out of nowhere: "To remember the past, to remember those forgotten, to remember yourself." Ukiah was thinking about that for the entire trip to Berk, and he still made no progress on it.

Ukiah shook his head and looked over the cliff. Kobaalt walked beside him, with a concerned look on his face. Ukiah had a lot going on. He was basically the icon and the cause for the Berk Vikings going to war, Strogg won't stop at anything until he has him, and there were probably a few people on the island not too happy with him being here, Murky being the main representative.

"I guess we'll just have to see how this pans out…" Ukiah said, petting Kobaalt's head.

"Hey Ukiah!" A voice called behind him. "What are you staring at? Come on follow us!"

Turing quickly around, both Ukiah and Kobaalt looked to see Astrid and Hiccup with their gang hovering above them.

"Come on! We got to show you something!" Hiccup called out, as he and Toothless started to fly away.

"Eh, I don't think he looks so tough" the boy on the Nightmare called out, while flying by.

Smiling, Ukiah leapt onto Kobaalt's neck, getting ready to blast through the air like an arrow. It wasn't as fast as he was expecting, but fast enough to launch into the air and catch up with the group.

Curious as to where they were taking him, Ukiah took the liberty of riding in between Hiccup and Astrid. Toothless noticing Kobaalt gave him a toothless smile, to which Kobaalt roared with happiness.

"I wish I could understand what you were saying!" Ukiah laughed hugging Kobaalt's neck to show that he loved him and to keep himself more balanced.

"Man we need to get you a saddle!" Astrid called behind him "You'll fly ten times better!"

"I'll have to follow up with Hiccup!" Ukiah replied yelling.

"Don't worry, I'll make it soon enough!" Hiccup shouted back to both of them

"I need to talk to you about some features with it" Ukiah said turning to face Hiccup "I have a few more ideas for it!"

"Alright, we'll talk later" Hiccup said returning his attention forward.

Doing a quick barrel roll, Hiccup dove straight down; to which Kobaalt followed doing the same thing.

Ukiah then saw exactly where they were going, to the arena. Ukiah knew that it was retired from dragon killing, but it was more than that which made him suddenly uneasy.

Hiccup and the gang flew straight in, minus the Nightmare who had to walk in because of its sheer size

Kobaalt stopped just in front of the gate. Ukiah was staring at the group, now laughing and joking with each other as they dismounted their dragons. He was hesitant, not because of what it was used for, but the memories that he had because he was in one. Kobaalt also seemed a little uneasy.

"Come on!" Snotlout called, sounding like he was bullying Ukiah "Is it too much for you to go through a gate?"

"He's got a long ways to go if he's flying with us" Tuffnut said looking a little disappointed with the teen that had war paint on. "Maybe he just wants to look tough."

"Story of your life…" Ruffnut inserted, resulting a punch from her brother.

Astrid, a little more sensitive than the two, punched both Tuff and Snotlout in the arm to which they both yelped in pain, jumping a good five feet away.

Hiccup walked over to Ukiah, asking "What's wrong? Is it what we used to do here?"

Ukiah shook his head, and then replied with "No, it's not the past of the arena that's haunting me; it's our past that's haunting us."

Hiccup noticed Kobaalt who was also staring into the arena, in a defensive stance.

"If you want to, we can come out" Hiccup suggested, wanting to help Ukiah anyway that he could.

"No, we need to come in; we need to get over what happened to us." Ukiah responded, slowly dismounting Kobaalt. It was now or never, and they didn't have much time to waste being hesitant. Plus, honestly it was pathetic that he couldn't walk through a gate. Sighing heavily, he began to walk through the first gate. As he passed the second gate, he swore that he heard a crowd cheer. Looking around, even though he knew that the only people there were Hiccup and his gang, he still tried to find the source of his imaginary audience.

Kobaalt was equally disturbed, walking slowly and cautiously behind Ukiah, stopping every few feet to make sure it wasn't a trap. Kobaalt wasn't going to let anything happen to Ukiah again, not after he almost lost him when they escaped.

"What's up with him?" Tuffnut whispered to Astrid, watching Ukiah slowly walk towards them

"Long story, I'm sure he'll tell you when he gets here." Astrid replied, visiting the memory she had watching Ukiah and Kobaalt fight for life "In a nut shell, he was almost killed in an arena like this one."

"Oohhh" Fishlegs nodded "I see, I see…"

Finally arriving in front of the group, Ukiah stopped and looked around. If it was the Thariin Arena, he was standing in the same spot where he woke up and found out the horrible truth of him being in an arena.

"So…are you just going to stand there? Or are you going to tell us who you are?" Snotlout said, with a little teasing in his voice "or are you scared of the mighty one that you see before you?" which brought another fist from Astrid into his arm. "OW! What the, what was that for?"

"Being an idiot" Astrid simply and bluntly replied.

Chuckling, Ukiah brought himself out of his thought, relaxing a little bit. "I'm Ukiah. I'm sure that Astrid and Hiccup told you that they basically picked me up nearly dead."

"I'm still positive that you were dead for a minute there…" Hiccup threw in.

"Yeah, it was quite a story! Did you really befriend that Night Fury in the arena?" Fishlegs asked excitedly "That's amazing!"

Ukiah laughed and then explained to them how he and Kobaalt met before the event in the arena. When he went out hunting Kobaalt for gold and glory, but ended up fighting to save him for friendship and honor. From befriending Kobaalt, to arriving on Berk, Ukiah told everything; except the dream he had, he kept that a secret even from Hiccup and Astrid. He began talking about all the stuff he crafted for himself, the vest, pants, and boots.

"I still love the headband Ukiah!" Astrid said pointing to the headband that Hiccup bought from Ukiah.

"Good! It's supposed to last for a while!" Ukiah said, looking at it with satisfaction.

"So you can work leather?" Hiccup asked facing Ukiah

"Well, yeah I can, but doesn't mean I'm efficient at it. I just work with small stuff such as that" Ukiah replied, pointing at Astrid's headband.

"So…are we just going to shoot the breeze, or are we going to do what you wanted to do Hiccup?" Ruffnut asked Hiccup, a little annoyed and bored with following the conversation.

"Do what?" asked Ukiah with slight concern on his face, mostly out of confusion.

Turning to Ukiah with a smile on his face, Hiccup then began to speak to him "Ukiah, as you can see, here in Berk we have a Dragon Training Academy, and we're the riders. Not to big yet, considering we really just started, but we are always looking for people who have potential to help the academy out by being essential riders and contributors. Ukiah, we want you to be part of us! We want you to be a dragon trainer! Both you and Kobaalt will be an important asset for us!" He finished with a bigger smile, holding out his hand in a friendly way "What do you say, you in?"

Ukiah had no idea that this was going to come. He was completely taken off guard with the invitation. He was not only allowed to live on Berk, but he was being invited to be part of an elite group, The Dragon Trainers. "I…I…don't know what to say! I never had anyone offer me such an opportunity." He stuttered, then quickly gathering himself replied "I gladly accept! I will ride with you to the end of my days!" Smiling, he took Hiccup's extended hand. "Me and Kobaalt will be with Berk 'till the world ends."

Kobaalt watching the event and hearing what was going on, roared with approval; causing the other dragons to do the same. It became a celebration as Astrid, Snotlout, Fishlegs, and the twins, also laughed and shouted for joy because of the sudden change of energy in the air.

Ukiah's arena experience was beginning to change for the better, not replacing what happened before; it was just reinforcing the fact that he had friends that were sharing the same happiness he was holding onto.

After the celebration died down, Ukiah then spoke up, asking Hiccup a question about his saddle. "Since I'm a rider now, I was curious about the saddle, if we can add a few…perks to it."

Interested and a little confused with the 'perks' Hiccup replied "Oook? What kind of 'perks'?"

"Could you put a bigger quiver, like a slot on it? Something to kind of be a surplus of arrows, just in case I run out during a hunt" Ukiah paused for a second thinking of the future "or a fight."

"Hmm..." Hiccup said stroking his chin, indicating that he was thinking of a possible way to accomplish it. "Yes, I may be able to do that, I'll need your quiver to try and copy it, you know for guidelines."

Ukiah smiled and kneeled down to begin unstrapping the quiver attached to his leg.

"Um, Ukiah?" Astrid said quietly "What about your crossbow? You lost it remember?"

Ukiah slightly frowned, "Yeah, I remember alright, but I'm going to talk to the blacksmith about making me a new one."

"Oh! That's Gob-!" Fishlegs inserted but was cut off by Snotlout

"You fight with a crossbow?" Snotlout asked quizzically "Doesn't sound very manly to me."

"This kid is getting annoying" Ukiah thought to himself "We'll I'm good with it, I've hunted by myself for years, and it's never failed me." He replied standing up with the quiver in his hands. "Here you go Hiccup." Ukiah said, turning to Hiccup extending his quiver towards him.

Hiccup was busy drawing something in his book, then looking up, closed it. Slinging the quiver around, Hiccup said "I'll get busy with this tomorrow; it's starting to get late." He said looking at the sky beginning to turn into a fire orange.

"Of course, I was planning on talking to the blacksmith tomorrow anyways." Ukiah said, acknowledging the fact that it will still be some time before he got his saddle.

Walking out of the arena, Hiccup then asked Ukiah "Why did my dad want to have you come to the council?"

"Oh, to show them I was the last of the Island of Crev, to prove his point I guess." Ukiah stated, reflecting on the events at the council.

"And everyone agreed?" Astrid asked excitedly.

"Well not at first, there was a guy named Murky who was really questioning me and my claim of being the last Crev" Ukiah explained with a hint of anger in his voice

"Really? Murky?" Hiccup asked confused "He always supported my dad and his decisions. In fact when he learned that my dad wanted the dragons to live among us, Murky was the first to really welcome them. He built a shelter for them."

"I don't know, but he was really giving me some grief about me and my past, also questioning Stoick's declaration of war" Ukiah stated. He didn't like Murky at all after the guff that he gave out.

"What do you mean the last of the Crev?" Fishlegs asked trying to change the subject because he saw Ukiah's anger beginning to surface.

"Well, I don't know a whole lot about it; I was just a baby when Strogg attacked my island, leaving me with no memories of my home." Ukiah replied solemnly. "I just know that the Crev were warriors, only gifted in fighting. We were so good at it that when we were able to 'access', for lack of a better term, our ancestors knowledge. It doubled our skill and ability to fight, as if two were fighting in one. It's not like a special power that only the Crev can have, it's only really accessible when you understand you ancestor. So anyone can really get it, I guess it was just more common among the Crev. Also, it's more of an aid, and less than a power. Remember that the Crev were destroyed, which I can only guess that a few handful of warriors really had that connection, not the whole people."

"Wow, so it's like an upgrade!" Fishlegs said excitedly "or a skill with a cool down timer!"

That statement got a lot of looks from the others, to which Fishlegs shrank back from the crowd a little bit.

"So what's with the war paint?" Snotlout asked, pointing his club at Ukiah's face "That's just for show right?"

"No," Ukiah said flatly "It's a symbol that sets us apart from other tribes and the many other different styles of war paint. In fact, it's completely symbolic; it defines who we are. It represents a call of help to those above, from those below. If you notice next time I put it on, hopefully not soon, I go from high left, to low right. It means that I put them that are above first, then me second. It's almost a religion."

"Weird." Ruffnut said a little perked at this

"So do you see people actually help you!?" Tuffnut followed up with, getting more excited as the story flowed.

"What? No!" Ukiah said a little defensively. What Tuffnut said, however, did give Ukiah light on a subject that was bothering him a great deal. "I mean, like a said, I have no knowledge of my past! I don't just say 'Hey ancestors! Come on down and fight for me!' I need to have knowledge of my family, and I might not even be able to access it! It's a sacred gift! On top of that, they just grant me an understanding of their skills, not an actual person."

"That's dumb" Ruffnut said with an annoyed look on his face.

Then Astrid, with a confused look asked "How come you know so much about these two things but not about your family?"

Ukiah thought for a moment, and then sighing "I guess they're the only two things of my traditions that I lived. Everything else I guess was forgotten because I never had a chance to live them, because they were killed."

This left the moment in an awkward silence. No one knew what to say, until Hiccup changed the subject.

"Come on, let's go fly!" he said, turning to Toothless, but not finding where he was last seen. "What the? Toothless where are you!"

A small roar came from the arena. The group followed where it came from to find Kobaalt and Toothless wrestling each other in a playful way.

"I guess these two really took to liking each other." Ukiah said smiling at the sight. He was incredibly relieved that the two weren't fighting each other.

Toothless had Kobaalt pinned, but a quick push and a slight roll allowed Kobaalt to get out from under him. Almost laughing at the sport, the two kept on running and chasing each other.

"Come on Kobaalt! Let's get going home…" Ukiah trailed off, not finishing what he was going to say. Thinking for a moment, he turned to Hiccup and asked "Where am I staying?" It wasn't until this moment that Ukiah hadn't thought of where he and Kobaalt were going to live.

"Oh." Hiccup replied, seeing the same dilemma that Ukiah was pondering "Well, I guess my place! Until we actually get you a place of your own or whatever you and my dad decide, I think you should stay with me!"

Obviously not having too many options, Ukiah smiled as he graciously accepted his invitation.

"Come on! Let's fly before its dark!" Astrid yelled, hopping on Stormfly.

The others were already on their dragons, taking off and flying over the village. "Oh shoot I forgot that I have to take care of a few things!" Hiccup said, mounting on Toothless "I'll catch up with you guys later!"

Ukiah was already on Kobaalt, smiling at the turn of events. "Sounds good! I'll see you later then!"

"Definitely later than sooner" Hiccup laughed as he took off and flew out of the arena.

Ukiah was confused at why Hiccup said that. "Eh, maybe he meant the morning." Bracing himself the best he could, Ukiah launched forward with Kobaalt into the air. Considering the grim looking future, Ukiah was happy with his situation. For once in his life, he found a home.